Anastasia's Reconciliation
by Artanyus
Summary: Following the great battle between Roland and the Fallen Angel, Anastasia returns to the battleground hoping to find some evidence that will tell her of Roland's fate.


Two days later, Anastasia returned to the site where Roland left her, never looking back as he walked away. The sun shone brightly, illuminating the scorched clearing while a cool breeze brushed across her face, making her shiver and hug her jacket tighter. Wisps of smoke still rose from the charred land, the last testament of the battle that took place there. She stared across the land, looking for any kind of life, some sign that Roland was still alive.

Seeing nothing, Anastasia took a tentative step forward, touching the charred land for the first time. As soon as she touched the blackened earth she could sense the turmoil that boiled underneath her feet, as well as in the air. The energy swirled around the clearing, a firestorm of light and dark trapped in balance, neither one gaining the upper hand.

"Roland?" she called out tentatively. "Are you there?"

Silence filled the air.

She continued to look, hoping to find something, anything that would give her some kind of clue to the fate of Roland. When she reached the center of the clearing, she opened herself up, reaching out with her gifts into the maelstrom. That was when she saw it, the sword he carried into battle, laying off to her left, the sun glinting off the blade.

Anastasia walked over to it, and picked it up. As she did so, she realized that it was broken, the runes scorched and marred. It was useless; the last remnant of Roland was a broken piece of metal. She stared at the broken sword, tears silently running down her face as the reality hit her. Roland was gone.

"He will always be watching you," a female voice stated suddenly, snapping Ana out of her trancelike state.

She turned around to face the owner of the voice. About six feet away stood a lovely young woman, somewhere in her mid twenties with golden blonde hair reaching down to the middle of her back and clad in robes of golden silk. Her fierce blue eyes bore into Anastasia, looking into her core, and caused her to look away, ashamed of what she might reveal to this mysterious person.

"What happened here?" Anastasia asked, sensing that this person knew something of the recent events.

"I wish I could tell you, child, but it is not my place to say," the other woman replied. "I cannot tell of events that were not witnessed by others. It is a part of the pact made with Him."

"What pact?"

"A pact made between my people and He who knows all," the woman answered. "As you already know that I am not human, I have seen it in your eyes."

Anastasia looked back up at the woman. For some reason, the woman looked familiar, but she couldn't place where or how she knew this person. "Who are you?" she asked curiously.

"My name is Jaina, and I once saved Roland's life," the woman replied, "Though that was in another lifetime, before I learned the truth."

"What truth?"

"That he was a Keeper of the Fire, a very special person just as you are now." Jaina walked closer, reaching out to wipe the tears from Anastasia's face. "Roland did what he had to do, for you and for everyone else. Do not cry for him, he left you a very special gift."

Anastasia looked perplexed, not understanding what Jaina was talking about. "A gift, what kind of gift?"

"The gift any Keeper has, the gift of love."

"But he is gone."

Jaina pondered her words carefully, and slowly reached out again. "Not as long as his memories live on inside of you." She placed a hand over her heart, "As long as you keep a place for him here, he will always be watching over you." As she lowered her hand, she stepped away, "and He will never leave your side either."

"What do I do now?" Anastasia asked, feeling as though she had just been set adrift in a sea of uncertainty, not knowing what it was she was supposed to do.

"Listen to your heart," Jaina answered simply. "You will know."

Before Anastasia could respond Jaina turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait," she called out, recalling Jaina's comment about not being human, "what are you now?"

"Like I said, you already know." Jaina replied and continued to walk away, leaving Anastasia alone in the clearing.

Anastasia watched the young woman leave, noting the faint glow about her that she seemed to not notice before. As she watched the other woman, she regarded the golden robes once more, and saw the intricate embroidery. In the middle of the back was an image of a dragon watching over a portal of some sort.

_No way, is that a dragon? _ She asked herself, _that's impossible_, _she can't be a dragon, can she?_

By the time Anastasia realized she was talking to herself, Jaina was gone, vanished into thin air just as she had appeared.

"I guess it's time for me to go as well," Ana said to herself. She took off her jacket and picked up the broken sword gently laying the pieces on the jacket before rolling it up. She looked around one last time, turned back to her car and walked away carrying the jacket in her arms. She drove back home and walked inside the quiet house, noting Quin's absence and began to cry. _Goodbye my love_ she thought between sobs.

After a short while she managed to gather her composure and looked over at the jacket, contemplating what she should do with the broken pieces that lay within. Unsure of what to do, she just picked up the jacket, unrolled it and placed the two pieces together on the mantle of her fireplace, a seemingly fitting place for the weapon, and a constant reminder of all that Roland had done.


End file.
